Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
“What time is it?” I ask, looking around for my phone.
Being late to practice the morning after my team said they want to sign me to a three-year-contract is nightmare fuel.
“It’s six eleven,” Blair says, looking at her phone. “Coop, why are you up so early?”
“I had a dream that a dinosaur ate Dong and I couldn’t go back to sleep.”
She ruffles his hair. “Dong’s tough. He’d never let that happen. Want me to make bacon and banana pancakes?”
“Yes, please. Magnus, do you want to watch Star Wars?”
“I wish I could, bud, but I have to go back to my hotel to shower and get to practice.”
“Are you coming back over tonight?”
“We’re all invited to fondue night tonight at Carter and Suki’s,” Blair says.
“What’s fondue?” Coop asks.
“It’s like a cheese fountain.”
His eyes widen and his lips part. “Whoa.”
“Okay if I pick you guys up and we all go together?” I ask.
“Of course.”
“Okay, perfect. I need to find my phone so I can call an Uber.”
“It’s on the coffee table,” Blair says.
I hurry in there to grab it, because even though I have plenty of time, I need to be early to practice today. I want the team to know they’re making a good investment.
23
Nine Days Later
* * *
Blair
* * *
It’s finally official. Magnus signed a three-year-contract with the Crush today, and we’re celebrating with a dinner for his teammates and their families that Jules and I are hosting.
So far, it’s ... going.
“Where the fuck is the fucking tuna?” I say to Jules, giving her a panicked look.
“Tuna?” Suki looks from Jules to me. “Since when are we making tuna?”
“It’s a line from Bridget Jones,” Jules says. “Just something we both say when things are turning disastrous in the kitchen.”
“It’s not disastrous yet,” Suki says. “Is the meat thawed?”
I look through the microwave door at the rectangle of ground beef rotating on a thaw setting. “Eh. It’s getting there.”
My first mistake was trying to make brisket. It’s Magnus’s favorite, and I had visions of myself fielding compliments about how incredible my brisket is—people asking me how this could possibly have been my first time making it.
Instead, even Dong didn’t want any. I got impatient and turned up the heat because the internal temp had stalled out. When Suki FaceTimed her chef friend Harry, he said that’s probably what made it tough and dry.
Jules and Suki to the rescue. I know from Suki’s fondue party that she’s a born hostess. And my sister can do anything she puts her mind to. We searched the freezer for meat options and now we’re working on creating a taco bar.
“How’s the shredding going?” I ask Talia.
“Check out Mount Cheddar. I think this might be enough.”
I look over at the massive mound of cheese she shredded with the stand mixer, using an attachment.
“Wow. That’s a lot of cheese.”
“I’ll get it into serving bowls and start chopping onions.”
“The lettuce is done,” Lainey says. “And those bacon-wrapped shrimp are so good.”
“Thank you.” I give her a grateful look. “At least I didn’t screw everything up. Just the main course.”
Jules puts an arm around me. “Babe, it’s okay. Breathe. We can still order food.”
“I know, I just wanted to make all of Magnus’s favorite foods, and now we’re having tacos and Swedish meatballs, which is like ... obviously not a great combo.”
“It’s a perfect combo.” Magnus walks into the kitchen and comes straight to me, taking my face in his hands and kissing me. “You love tacos and I love Swedish meatballs, and this is our party.”
I nod and mouth “Thank you.”
“How are Mara and Leo doing?” Talia asks.
“They’re good,” Suki says. “Their manny is coming from nine at night ’til five in the morning so they can sleep.”
Mara delivered their son, Grayson John Abbott, almost a week ago. He has brown hair and looks exactly like Leo, who is the proudest father ever.
“She wanted to come today, but they’re being careful about exposing the baby to lots of people so he doesn’t get sick.”
“That’s smart,” I say. “We completely understand.”
“The taco shells are here,” Magnus says, looking at the notification on his phone.
We ordered a few groceries for delivery because we had enough meat and cheese, but nowhere near enough taco shells, taco sauce, and sour cream for twenty-seven people.
I check the pot of Swedish meatballs on the stove, making sure they don’t burn while keeping them warm.
Eli brings Hallie into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator, his Crush jersey with Magnus’s name and number on the back making my heart squeeze.
“Do you like apple juice?” he asks her.
“Sure.”
“I’ll get you some. You can use my cup.”
Jules and I exchange a look. Eli doesn’t share his purple plastic cup from a trip we took to Cedar Point amusement park. He was mad at Coop for two days because Coop touched it.